Throughout an enlisted Airman’s career, as they progress in rank, completion of three Enlisted Professional Military Education courses becomes a requirement. These EPME courses coincide with the three enlisted tiers: Airman Leadership School, Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy.
Ultimately, EPME is designed to introduce Airmen to appropriate institutional competencies at specific career milestones: Airman, NCO and SNCO.
Upon completion of the challenging and rigorous academic instruction, the top performers in each graduating class are recognized for their efforts. The John L. Levitow Award is the highest award for EPME in the Air Force and is presented to the student who demonstrates the most outstanding leadership and scholastic achievement throughout ALS, NCOA and SNCOA.
Earning this award once is quite an accomplishment, but one Airman from the 324th Intelligence Squadron tripled that success.
As the top performer in her SNCOA class of more than 300, Senior Master Sgt. Melissa Matthews just added a third Levitow Award to her collection and joins the select few who have achieved such a feat.
“I believe I was successful in all three EPMEs for two reasons: effort and teamwork,” Matthews said. “I always focus on the one thing I can control – the amount of effort I put into something. I hate to walk away from anything thinking I could have tried harder, whether it is a speech, a paper, or a team project.
“Additionally, I go into any situation focusing on the team. I try to adapt to what the team needs, whether it is being a leader, follower, cheerleader or whatever. I try to focus on driving the team to success rather than on any individual accomplishment.”
Perhaps just as impressive, Matthews has been promoted on her first time testing for each enlisted rank and is a newly promoted senior master sergeant with less than 13 years of time in service. As the 324th IS operations superintendent for hundreds of personnel, it is no surprise that her effort and ability to promote teamwork in daily duties carried over to her personal EPME achievement.
“PME teaches you a lot about yourself – about your strengths and weaknesses,” Matthews said. “Instead of focusing on my weakness, I concentrate on utilizing the strengths of my other team members and how my strong points can add value to the team.
“The Air Force is a team sport. Any success I have had in my career, personally, is really a credit to the incredible teams I have had the privilege of working with.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2019 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 357992 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Intel Airman earns Levitow three-peat in EPME, by TSgt Eboni Reece, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
